Dick Page for Shiseido, Backstage at United Bamboo s/s2011

TEXT, Vivian Kelly
Video, Lisa Johnson

Dick Page, Artistic Director for Shiseido is the man when it comes to doing polished makeup with one distinct element that has you looking again at the model’s face.
That was the unifying thread between the different looks he created for these NYFW shows Zero + Maria Cornejo, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Narciso Rodriguez
Michael Kors, United Bamboo and Band of Outsiders.
I first became aware of Dick and his work in the late nineties, when my boss, Michael Kors, hired him to do the spring show. Michael had decided to show at Bryant Park and wanted some edge to the look. Show Producer Alex de Betak thought it would be interesting to do something on the dangerous side [a departure from the beautiful glamazons Bobbi Brown used to help create in the prior seasons.].
He referenced Brian de Palma’s 1984 thriller, ‘Body Double’, starring a dangerously somewhat punk Melanie Griffith,




“A well built woman who strips with her window open each night” who tempted ‘Jake”, who was house sitting for his actor-friend, ‘Frank’. Jake becomes obsessed with meeting her and gets caught in a bizarre web of murder and intrigue.

These days, Dick is still doing Michael’s show, and is among the most sought-after editorial stars for runway shows, and he’s added commercial and theatrical projects to his body of work. Add to that, his job as Artistic Director for Shiseido, and doing the makeup for a Broadway Play. His collaboration with Shiseido started way back in 1997, when he worked on the Japanese-based INOUI line, which he helped to relaunch in 2002 as Inoui ID. In 2007, he was named Artistic Director of Shiseido The Makeup, in which he's a color creator and Product Developer for the brand- worldwide. The best part about this is that now we can go to the counters in the USA and pick-up the shades he’s created rather than begging a friend to ship it to us from Japan.


In our interview backstage, pre-United Bamboo, Dick showed us a gorgeous new color he was excited about,Dragon Red [a best-selling Shiseido lipstick] with some gold flecks in it”. On the other side of the spectrum, is a beige-gold color that is pretty, and anything but “EMU”. This nude-ish color is perfect if you’re looking to channel a look seen in the Michael Kors Collections ads, in which Carmen Kass looks natural and polished, each and every season. The ideal lip color to achieve this look is Shiseido Rouge Perfect Lipstick in Dune [BE310], which he used later that week for the Michael Kors s/s2011 show.
Another great look is the bold, fun one Dick created for Marc by Marc Jacobs. The eye-catching red lip at Marc Jacobs - Shiseido Makeup Perfect Rouge Lipstick in Day Lily (OR418) is on my fall makeup buy list.






The atmosphere at United Bamboo was decidedly more mellow than backstage at a Marc or Michael show, so we had time for some fun questions, in addition to the usual, “So, what’s your inspiration?” ones.


I found-out a few things about Dick that I didn’t’ know before our informal pre-show chat.
#1: Dick is a Pilates Fan.
#2: Dick was a butcher, in a previous lifetime, before he began his second career is being one of the world’s top makeup artists.
#3: He’s got one foot into his third and fourth careers -
doing photography, and working on the makeup for a Broadway Play.

Backstage With Bobbi Brown at the Tibi s/s2011 show

TEXT, VIVIAN KELLY

There are some people that it's love at first sight with. Such was the case with MAKEUP MOGUL, BOBBI BROWN. I first met Bobbi when she'd just started her namesake company and there weren't a whole lot of colors, but she had this great color called "brown", which everyone agreed looked good on anyone and everyone. She wore a lot of black, very little makeup and smiled a lot. The models loved her for her chilled-out attitude, and as the harried PR for Michael Kors, so did I.

Fast-forward 15 years later, and Bobbi's still Bobbi. It was great to get to catch-up a bit with her backstage, at the Tibi s/s2011 show. There she was, adeptly fielding questions fired at her by eager editors and film crews waving mikes in her face, all the while showing the special palette she'd created for the show. Bobbi turned to the crowd of faces and jokingly asked, "You're all from websites? Doesn't anyone work for magazines anymore?" She, like everyone this season who's in the fashion business is marveling at the sheer number of bloggers and tweeters who now cover fashion week.
For Tibi, Bobbi did her signature fresh and clean makeup, which went nicely with the side parted ponytail, accessorized with two clips. The Tibi girl is historically fresh faced but she has some fun too. This season, Bobbi provided that with a thicker eyeliner with her long-wear gel eyeliner to create the winged eye that was the focus for this show. The look was pretty, but not TOO perfect.

Meanwhile, over in the hair area, Aveda stylists Kevin Ryan and Frank Rizziari dealt with hair drama. One of the models arrived on the latish side rushing from her previous show with her long blonde hair crimped to the max and loaded down with product. Frank walked over to take a closer look and warned, "Honey, you have to use water and wash it all out or you're going to cry when we work on your hair".
He turned back to us and explained, "When a model comes with tons of stuff in her hair, dry shampoo will only make the hair grittier and will only serve to mask it. The only thing that works is water." Good to know, as I'd always assumed dry shampoo was the quickie solution to getting product out of one's hair.

I caught my few minutes of face time with Bobbi, and she answered the questions I lobbed over to her.
As to what she wants the makeup to achieve for this [or any show she does] "is for women to look and say, 'I want to look like THAT', wearing those clothes and THAT makeup."
We discussed how she's able to address her ever-exapanding global customer base. When she creates a palette, she thinks about how it has to work for women in England, Japan, and the USA. In short, she wants them ALL to love it.
Bobbi's Best-selling product after all these years is the original BROWN which started it all.
How many sku#'s does she have? "Hmm, I don't know, but I'm really excited about this one"[pointing at the sleek silver croco "TIBI" palette of silvery shadows." I left not knowing how many lipsticks are on the line, but I know I'm getting in line for one of the Tibi palettes when they're out this spring.